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Fieger: How we reopen the economy will be our nation's biggest test

A van is decorated for Wednesday's vehicle protest in front of the Capitol.(Photo: Paul Egan/Detroit Free Press)

America is approaching that moment in history that decides how we will be defined in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed systemic failures in our society that translate into a death count that is on track to exceed all the souls the U.S. lost in Vietnam.There will be even more loss. The pandemic challenges us, not only with our failures, but also with how we will respond to those failures. Will we respond consistent with our American ideals, or will we abandon them? Re-opening our economy is the fulcrum, and the choices we make will tip us toward greatness or failure.

American institutions are failing in response to a microscopic virus. There is one common cause for the failures: American style capitalism has failed to cope. The virus has corroded essential institutions to the breaking point. Those same voices who talked about a socialist disaster if Bernie Sanders were elected, are now praying that more “socialism” will save their economy. The American economy is now dependent upon government to save it. The motivation to reassure the markets and be re-elected has guided disastrous delays in responding to a pandemic they knew was coming. The inescapable influence of special interest money is preventing vital economic support from getting to the citizens who need it most. Instead, our economy seems designed to funnel money to the rich, since they are about the only ones who get the Government handouts.

Health care institutions are failing for the same reason. It is not a secret why coronavirus has strained our medical system to the breaking point. We were supposed to have the best medical care system in the world. In fact, we have one of the worst public health care systems of any industrialized nation. Ours is a public health system designed to provide profits as much as medical care. Now starved of profits, massive layoffs of hospital employees are announced daily.

Geoffrey Fieger(Photo: Geoffrey Fieger)

Even American-style religious institutions are failing. Across the country, some “prosperity gospel” leaders insist on filling their pews to fund their coffers, while deliberately putting their flock at risk. There are evangelical leaders who adopt the calculus that supporting the President’s push toward a premature opening of the economy is more important than protecting the most vulnerable. Where are the “Right to Life” protesters? Are they picketing the offices of politicians who shamelessly argue that opening business is worth a few more lives?

The decision to prematurely reopen the economy is more than just a public health issue. It underscores the existential choice that will define our country.

Do we carry out in deeds the values we have long touted as representative of the American dream? Or do we abandon all in pursuit of wealth? Not only lives are at stake.